This brand new debut novel is destined for the similar literary recognition as that of “The Secret Life of Bees.” Claire and her half-sister Sydney were raised by their maternal grandmother at the magical home owned by their family for generations in a small town in North Carolina, after their mother died in a car crash. Magical in the literal sense. Sydney left when she was just eighteen after her boyfriend dumped her because she wasn’t of the right social caste, and not as Claire thought – to get away from the magic. Magic as exhibited by an apple tree in the garden that blooms early and bares apples most of the year. The apples give visions to the people who eat them of the biggest moment in their life. The moment could be either negative or positive and the vision could either cause the eater to try to avoid the moment for the rest of their life or sometimes live only for that moment.

Sydney returns to the small town and Claire’s house after several years of domestic abuse just as Claire’s new next door neighbor takes a romantic interest in Claire who seems determined to put him off because everybody else in her life has left her. Claire isn’t sure love is worth the pain it can cause. Sydney also seems oblivious to love staring her in the face.

The rest of the story is filled with delightful (and not so delightful) characters with their southern charm and one of my favorite things to read about – food.